Company brings accessible, over-the-counter hearing aid directly to Galaxy Buds

  Alwakaai news – August 13, 2026 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. recently announced that its Galaxy Buds Hearing Aid feature has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance. The feature enables compatible Galaxy Buds to serve as an over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid, offering users 18 years and older a convenient solution for addressing perceived mild to moderate hearing loss — which may be indicated by difficulty following conversations in noisy environments — without a prescription or clinic visit. Users can also diagnose their hearing with the Galaxy Buds Hearing Test feature, which is registered as a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and provides medical-grade results.

'Hearing health is a vital component of our overall well-being, profoundly impacting how we communicate, connect with loved ones and engage with the world,” said Hon Pak, Senior Vice President and Head of the Digital Health Team for the Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. 'With the latest clearance from the FDA, we are expanding access to hearing support and making proactive care effortless by integrating the Hearing Test and Hearing Aid functionality directly into the Galaxy Buds.”

Hearing loss is incredibly common, yet it remains one of the most overlooked health conditions worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally, more than 1.5 billion people experience some degree of hearing loss — a figure projected to reach 2.5 billion people by 2050. Despite this, many people who could benefit from hearing aids do not use them due to high cost, social stigma or limited access to professional care.

Samsung has been committed to advancing hearing support technologies for consumers since 2020. That year, the company introduced a Personal Sound Amplification Product (PSAP) feature on Galaxy Buds+.

The PSAP feature was clinically validated in 2021 as effective support for daily communication for those with hearing loss, building the foundation for the Hearing Aid feature. To develop this new OTC solution, Samsung collaborated closely with the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) and Samsung Medical Center (SMC). The resulting technology is backed by robust clinical validation studies conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, San Jose State University and the University of Memphis.

Example of a Hearing Test result

Hearing Aid settings screen

Samsung’s holistic hearing health experience centers around two major features integrated directly into Galaxy Buds without requiring a separate app.  By navigating to the Galaxy Buds menu in Settings, users can complete a self-administered Hearing Test in just five minutes. Using clinical-grade, pure-tone audiometry, the software tests each ear individually to pinpoint the user’s specific hearing deficits. It then generates an audiogram with accuracy comparable to a professional audiologist’s evaluation. The results categorize the user’s hearing as normal or one of four stages of hearing loss: mild, moderate, severe or profound.

Based on those results, the Hearing Aid feature amplifies the sounds users have difficulty hearing — such as high frequencies, surrounding whispers and distant voices — personalized to each user’s hearing profile. Hearing Aid also supports additional advanced features typically found in premium hearing aids, such as noise elimination and beamforming, which help focus sounds in front of the user and suppress background noise. 

Galaxy Buds use NAL-NL2, recognized globally as the clinical standard formula for fitting prescription hearing aid. This advanced approach ensures highly personalized, accurate results tailored to each individuals hearing profile.

To give users a comprehensive view of their overall wellness, hearing-related insights — including noise exposure levels and Hearing Test results — are accessible directly within the Samsung Health app.

Availability

The Hearing Aid and Hearing Test features will be available on Galaxy Buds3 Pro and Galaxy Buds4 Pro in the U.S. and select approved markets in Q4 2026.